TWC kicks off high school football coverage in 11 states

Time Warner Cable is serving up its largest helping of high school football coverage this season across 11 states in its footprint.

By the end of the year, TWC SportsChannels will have televised more than 300 games, featuring some 500 high schools in states such as New York, California, Texas, Ohio and the Carolinas.

While parents and fans benefit from the extended coverage, Time Warner Cable wields a customer retention tool in the face of satellite and telco competition in those communities.

“Time Warner Cable cares about the communities we serve, and those communities are passionate about local sports,” said Mark Shuken, senior vice president and general manager of TWC Regional Sports. “We’re focusing on our local sports content across the country, because we want to give our customers the products they want to watch. “

Time Warner Cable’s football offerings will be particularly appreciated in Texas where high school football borders on an obsession by fans.

“Texas high school football is not just a game. It’s history and tradition fueled by school and city pride,” said Kurt Wallace, executive producer of TWC SportsChannel in Texas. “It’s about who will have a lifetime of bragging rights, and that’s what makes it so important to the people in the stands and why we bring it into their homes.”

High school football fanatics in California have the chance to dictate the coverage to some degree thanks to a new wrinkle.

“In Southern California, we recently launched ‘TWC Fan’s Choice,’ which lets the fans help select which high school football game will air Friday night on our SoCal 101 sports channel,” said Shuken. “The response has been very strong out of the gate.”

TWC SportChannels across the 11 states are also broadcasting other high school sports, including basketball, girls volleyball and lacrosse.

TWC SportChannels are also offering weekly prep sports shows, such as “Varsity Roundup” in New York and “Sports Weekly” in Wisconsin.

Time Warner Cable is serving up its largest helping of high school football coverage this season across 11 states in its footprint. By the end of the year, TWC SportsChannels will have televised more than 300 games, featuring some 500 high schools in states such as New York, California, Texas, Ohio and the Carolinas.